North of England – League Division 1
Thorne’s Park, Wakefield – Saturday 7th May 2016
The Kingston senior team started their 2016 league campaign at Thorne’s Park in Wakefield, the home track of the Wakefield Harriers club. There are six teams in the top division and as well as Wakefield, the opposition we will be facing over the next 3 months in four full day competitions, are City of Sheffield & Dearne, Preston Harriers, Blackburn Harriers & AC and West Cheshire AC.
Each of the clubs are represented by both a men’s team and a women’s team. Every athletic discipline is contested and each club can enter two athletes, one in the ‘A’ event and one in the ‘B’.
The Kingston team was made up of both seniors and veteran campaigners, who were supplemented by a healthy number of the clubs outstanding athletes from the youth team. However our cause was not helped by a number of athletes who for one reason or another couldn’t turn out for this match. At the end of the day it cost us two places on the league ladder and two league points.
There were some excellent performances on the day, with the highlight coming in the men’s 4 x 100 metres where our team of two seniors and two under 20’s sprinters broke both the club and the County record, with a fabulous run of 42.6s.
The performance details of all senior and veteran athletes at Wakefield are as follows.
MENS COMPETITION
Men – 100 and 200 metres Sprints
Luke Giblin is the club’s number one sprinter. He was in outstanding form and he powered to victory in the 100 metres ‘A’ race, where he recorded a time of 11.0s. Training partner Callum Giles put in an excellent performance in the ‘B’, winning the race in a season’s best time of 11.2s.
In the 200 metres Luke Giblin was once again the ‘A’ runner, he carried on where he left off in the 100, winning the race in a season’s best time of 22.1s. Northern 200 metre champion Andy Morgan-Harrison was the ‘B’ runner in the 200 metre sprint race. He left the rest of the field behind him as he powered to victory in a run of 22.5s.
400 metres race
The 400 metres race saw Jonny Beharrell in the ‘A’ race and Jack Michaels in the ‘B’. Jonny took another step towards full fitness, with a season’s best run of 51.1s, to take 3rd place. The time was just one tenth of a second outside his lifetime best. Jack Michaels took 3rd place in the ‘B’ which he won in a recorded time of 56.2s.
400 metres Hurdles race
Jack Michaels saw further action in 400 metres hurdles ‘A’ race, which is his specialist event He ran a season’s best time of 62.0s, to take 3rd place.
Gregan Clarkson arrived at the meeting with injuries to his right knee and calf. He put himself through the pain barrier, running in three races to help the team’s cause. The first was the 400 metre hurdles where he went in the ‘B’ race and took 5th place in a time of 89.8s.
800 metres race
The 800 metres race brought together Josh Taylor-Brown and under 17 athlete Kyle Foster. Josh went in the ‘A’ race, where a quality run brought him a new PB of 2:01.4 and a 3rd place finish in the race.
Kyle Foster followed Josh’s example, he too ran a great race to take 2nd place in the ‘B’, and post a new PB of 2:05.5s.
1500 metres race
Baldvin Magnusson ran in the 1500 metres ‘A’ race, where he put in a magnificent performance, full of guts and effort, to take a well deserved 2nd place. For the second week in succession he posted a new PB of 4:19.8s, clipping 4.6s off last week’s run in the Youth Development League meeting in Doncaster.
Men – 3000 Steeplechase
Next up for Gregan was the 3000 metre steeplechase, which included a head first fall into the water jump, he picked himself up and carried on, finishing in 4th place in a time of 11:00.9s.
Men – 5000 metres
Alfie Salsby made his league debut in the blue and gold vest in the 5000 metres ‘A’ race. He took 3rd place and recorded a time of 16:00.6s.
Gregan Clarkson’s third and final event was in the 5000 metres ‘B’ race, which he won and ran a time of 16:58.8s.
400 metres Hurdles race
Jack Michaels saw further action in 400 metres hurdles ‘A’ race, which is his specialist event He ran a season’s best time of 62.0s, to take 3rd place.
110 metres Hurdles race
The high hurdles are not one of Jack Michaels’ favourite events, but he helps out the team when a gap needs filling. Jack pulled out a season’s best performance of 21.9s, to take 4th place in the race.
Hammer Throw
The hammer competition saw two of Kingston’s veteran athletes joining the fray. (V45) John Twiddle was the thrower in the ‘A’ event, where he took 5th place with a throw of 40.35m. In the ‘B’ (V55) Darren Gibson took 2nd place with an effort of 37.64m.
Shot Putt
John Twiddle was the ‘A’ thrower and he took 2nd place with a throw of 12.14m. In the ‘B’ it was a welcome return to league action for Robert Henry, whose throw of 10.44m gave him 3rd place.
Discus Throw
John Twiddle and Robert Henry were back in the throwing circle, with John taking 4th place in the ‘A’ with 32.52m, and Robert 4th in the ‘B’ with 27.56m.
Javelin Throw
Robert Henry was the ‘A’ thrower this time and his best effort of 35.25m, gave him a 4th place finish. John Twiddle took 5th place in the ‘B’ with 29.33m.
Long Jump & Triple Jump
James Wardle was the clubs representative in both of the events. He took 4th place in the long jump with a distance of 5.86m, the triple jump saw him jump a new PB of 11.29m for 5th place.
Pole Vault
Under 17 athlete Harry Stutely is a pole vault specialist and he was the Kingston representative in the ‘A’ competition. Harry went clear at a height of 3.20m, to take 3rd place in the event.
Robert Henry took on his first pole vault competition for almost three years. His clearance at a height of 2.60m gave him 3rd place in the ‘B’.
WOMENS COMPETITION
100 metres & 200 metres races
Amy Sampson and Chloe Constable represented the senior team in both of the sprint races.
In the 100 metres ‘A’ race Amy Sampson took 4th place and ran a time of 13.1s. In the 200 ‘A’ her run of 27.3s, gave her another 4th place finish.
Chloe Constable ran in both of the ‘B’ races. In the 100 metres, she took 5th place in a time of 14.1s and in the 200 metres she again took 5th running a time of 29.1s.
400 metres race
Under 17 athlete Jess Fields ran in the ‘A’ race, where she took 5th place in a time of 64.2s.
800 metres race
Jess Cappleman represented Kingston in both 800 and 1500 metre races. In the 800 metres she ran a new PB of 2:27.3s for 3rd place in the ‘A’ race.
Another of our under 17’s, Natalie Bell, ran in the 800 metres ‘B’ race. She put a great run together, which saw her take 2nd place and also run a new PB of 2:30.9s, taking 2.4 seconds off her old best.
1500 metres race
Jess Cappleman was once again the ‘A’ runner in the 1500 metres, where she took a 5th place finish, running a time of 2:27.3s.
14 year old Connie Mounsey made her senior league debut in the ‘B’ race. She was nervous before the race but soon settled down when out on the track. She put in an excellent performance, which saw her take a 2nd place finish, and run a time of 5:41.4s.
Women – 100 metre Hurdles
Clare Blunt took 3rd place in the 100 metre hurdles race, where she ran a season’s best time of 17.0s.
Hammer Throw
Six times English Schools Champion Abbi Carter made her first appearance of 2016 in the hammer, a competition which she dominated throughout and won with a season’s best throw of 55.69m.
2015 English Schools silver medallist Maggie Okul got her day off to a flying start in the hammer competition. A season’s best throw of 52.90 being more than enough to see off all of the opposition.
Discus Throw
In the discus throw Abbi Carter took 2nd place in the ‘A’ competition with her best throw of the day being one of 31.39m.
The discus is Nicole Gray’s specialist event and a new personal best throw of 29.61m, saw her clinch victory in the ‘B’.
Shot Putt
Abbi Carter was in further action in the shot event, taking a 4th place finish in the ‘A’ competition with a throw of 10.38m.
The shot event brought Maggie Okul back into the throwing circle, where she also took 4th place in the ‘B’ with a throw of 8.56m.
Javelin Throw
The javelin throw brought Maggie Okul and Nicole Gray together. Maggie threw in the ‘A’ event, where she launched the javelin out to 27.61m, to take 4th place. Nicole Gray threw a distance of 14.21m, to take a 6th place finish in the ‘B’.
Long Jump
Amy Sampson and Chloe Constable joined in the action on the field, in the long jump event. Amy jumped a new PB of 4.05m, in the ‘A’ event, for a 6th place finish. In the ‘B’, Chloe also finished 6th, with a jump of 2.37m.
High Jump
Hollie Smith jumped a new outdoor best of 1.75m, to take 2nd place in the ‘A’ event. Clare Blunt took 3rd place in the ‘B’, with a clearance at 1.45m.
Triple Jump
Clare Blunt was back in action in the triple jump, where she finished in 4th place with an effort of 10.17m.
Jess Fields took 3rd place in the triple jump ‘B’ event, with a season’s best effort of 8.83m.
Women – Pole Vault
Clare Blunt was in competition once more as the ‘A’ jumper, where she took 2nd place, going clear at a height of 3.40m.
Rebekah Arandle had her first competitive outing of 2016 as the ‘B’ jumper in the pole vault. She won the competition and went clear at a new PB height of 3.00m.
RELAY RESULTS
4 x 100 metres – Men
The Kingston team of:-
Joe Cooper, Andy Morgan-Harrison, Callum Giles and Luke Giblin were the winners of the race. The team’s time of 42.6s broke not only the Kingston club record but the County record as well.
4 x 400 metres – Men
The Kingston team of:-
Josh Taylor-Brown, Kyle Foster, Jonny Beharrell and Jack Michaels, took 3rd place in the race, where they ran a time of 3:36.5s.
4 x 100 metres – Women
The women’s quartet of:-
(senior athlete) Clare Blunt, Jess Fields, Chloe Constable and Amy Sampson, took 4th place in the race and recorded a time of 53.0s.
4 x 400 metres – Women
The Kingston team of:-
Jess Fields, Chloe Constable, Connie Mounsey and (senior athlete) Jess Cappleman finished in 3rd place and recorded a time of 4:37.3s.
